Cirigliano, president of Teamsters Local 1035, was with Omar Thornton as his union representative at a meeting Tuesday morning that "could have affected his continued employment" at Hartford Distributors in Manchester, according to Cris Roos, secretary-treasurer of Local 1035. Thornton allegedly shot and killed Cirigliano, 51, a company representative and six other union members, Roos said in a statement.

Cirigliano and his wife, Patti, raised two daughters, Megan and Lindsay, now in their 20s, at their Newington home.

"You couldn't ask for a better guy, a family guy," said a neighbor, who declined to give his name.

Cirigliano was a churchgoing man and fervent about softball, coaching his daughter Megan's team when she was younger, the neighbor said.

"He was always out to help his fellow union members and wanted to give them a much better life," said the neighbor, who lived near the Cirigliano family for about 24 years.

In 2003, Cirigliano testified before a state legislative committee concerning workers' compensation. He had missed more than a year of work because of an injury that required three surgeries. He considered himself "a pretty tough guy," but said the recovery and being out of work for a year was a painful experience.

"A lot of times it's just one of those things that happens, it's the nature of the job," he said at the time. "A lot of jobs are high-risk jobs. They have a high injury rate. And I would just like you to think of the people who have families."